The sea of himawari (sunflowers) in Biei.
Credit Akira Tomita of Guided Cycling Tour Biei
Konnichiwa, minna-san!
Kochira wa Becky desu – it’s me,
Becky, founder, writer, planner, one-person show of Travelogy!
Ogenki desuka? How have you been?
As for myself, I am feeling fantastic, and am not quite shake off that sunburns
from my recent trip to – where else – Japan! Gomennasai on being tardy at
writing up a report of the itinerary; I am still in post vacation blues (aren’t
we all *sigh*) even after 2 weeks of my return, haha.
So before I keep on procrastinating,
here’s a simple write up on it. Mostly, I’ll share on the pre-trip planning and
itinerary. It was a highly personalized trip – tailoring to my preferences and
main purpose of travel. After that, we’ll see what actually happened. After
all, that;s what I do at Travelogy!
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!
***
So. For my annual “balik kampong”
to Japan this year, I decided to ditch the main island and head to somewhere
we’d never been before, namely…(insert drum roll)…Hokkaido!
I had always wanted to see the
beautiful carpets of colourful flowers in Furano, but the vast island of Honshu
offers so many distractions. Thus this year, early on in March after returning
from my 5th full marathon in Seoul, South Korea, I found a solid
excuse to do so.
So once it was opened, I
immediately registered to participate in Hokkaido Marathon 2016.
Once it was confirmed, I did two
most important things for any trip:
1. Buy
flight tickets
2. Book
accommodation
Since
I wanted to minimize long distance travel as possible to ensure I would be
fresh for the marathon, I decided to fly direct to Sapporo, instead of
transiting in Tokyo. Therefore, my only option was Air Asia. I flew in on
Thursday night because I preferred to be in Japan two days before the big day.
It could be a placebo effect but I did (do) believe that an extra day would give
me orientation of the city, while an extra night would help me rest better.
I
tried to upgrade to the premium flatbed (at a fraction of the full price via
Optiontown – this deserves a separate post) liked what I did during my outbound
flight to Seoul, so I could sleep more comfortably during the overnight flight.
However, after months of checking, it wasn’t available so I guess the seats
were all sold out at full price. Therefore, I opted for a hot seat in the quiet
zone with one meal for breakfast just before landing.
The
return tickets cost me RM 1,700.
For
accommodation, I went with my usual choice – a bed in a female dormitory in a
backpackers’ hostel. After all, I would spend most of my time outside so I was
unwilling to pay a lot for things that I would minimally use. There were a few
to choose from, and I usually liked to be near the city centre (main train
station, mostly), where convenience stores were aplenty and the streets were
not too quiet after dark.
Since
Sapporo was basically a new turf for me, I couldn’t really visualize the area
so I booked a bed in Guest House Waya in Toyohira after reading good reviews
about it. The bed cost JPY 3,200 per night.
I
stayed for 5 nights so the total was JPY 16,000; no deposit required but
payment was cash term only during check-in.
With
those two most important things settled, my initial itinerary looked like this:
FRI
|
|
26-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Arrive at CTS
|
afternoon
|
Sapporo - Odori Park, Ramen Village, Clock Tower, Maruyama Park,
race kit collection, etc.
|
evening
|
Sapporo
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
SAT
|
|
27-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Otaru
|
afternoon
|
Otaru
|
evening
|
Sapporo
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
SUN
|
|
28-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Hokkaido Marathon
|
afternoon
|
Sapporo
|
evening
|
Sapporo
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
MON
|
|
29-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Biei – ½ day cycling tour
|
afternoon
|
Furano – Farm Tomita
|
evening
|
Sapporo
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
TUE
|
|
30-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Hakodate
|
afternoon
|
Hakodate
|
evening
|
Hakodate
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
WED
|
|
31-Aug
|
|
morning
|
CTS – KUL
|
afternoon
|
|
evening
|
Arrive at KUL
|
night
|
|
sleep
|
I
also made three different cost estimations in my quest to reduce the
transportation cost as much as I could. In the end, I went with the following
option:
Transportation
|
Price/unit JPY
|
MYR
|
JPY
|
|
TOTAL
|
TOTAL
|
|||
Friday: CTS - Waya
|
1-way
|
1270
|
47
|
1,270
|
Friday: Subway Day Pass
|
31
|
830
|
||
Saturday: Otaru
|
Otaru Welcome Pass
|
1700
|
63
|
1,700
|
Sunday: Sapporo
|
Subway Day Pass
|
31
|
830
|
|
Monday: Sapporo - Biei - Furano - Sapporo
|
3-day Hokkaido Rail Pass
|
16500
|
611
|
16,500
|
Tuesday: Sapporo - Hakodate - Sapporo
|
||||
Wednesday: Waya - CTS
|
||||
TOTAL
|
782
|
21,130
|
||
But
traveling means being practical, and flexible. So what actually happened, while
did not deviate entirely from plan, did have a major change. On my last full
day in Hokkaido, instead of going to Hakodate, I decided to chill out in
Sapporo instead.
The
decision was a conscious one. The day prior, I was supposed to get a 3-day
Hokkaido Rail Pass before embarking on my trip to Biei. Well t be honest, I
should have gotten in back in KL. However the JTB system was down when I went
to their counter in Suria KLCC, and I didn’t have time to go back. Since the
pass is sold in Japan anyway, I thought I would just get it there.
It
turned out that rail passes were only sold at the JR Information Desk, not at
Midori-no-madoguchi (ticket counter). The desk started operations at 8.30 am,
while I needed to get on the 6.35 am JR Super Kamui to Asahikawa in order to
make it to the pre-booked cycling tour in Biei at 9.30 am (JPY 5,400). Somehow,
I failed to register that the train trip would take 3 hours in total (including
transit time in Asahikawa), while the Asahikawa – Biei train frequency is only
once every hour.
Arriving
at Sapporo Station with only 10 minutes or so before 6.35 am (I actually
speed-walked from Odori station because I took the Tozai line subway from Waya,
and it didn’t pass through Sapporo station), and newly discovered the
unfortunate timing, I had to make some fast decisions. So I did.
I
went back to the midori-no-madoguchi and bought a one-way ticket to Biei.
And
failed epicly at doing so in Japanese. I said “Biei kara kippu o ichi mai,
onegaishimasu.” (One ticket from Biei, please)
The
staff quickly asked me back, “Biei kara, doko made?” (From Biei to where?)
I
got confused, and started to repeat the question in English. She shook her head
adamantly.
“Biei
kara, koko made?” (From Biei to here is it?)
At
that point I got it.
“Koko
kara, Biei made.” (From here to Biei)
So
without the rail pass, a return trip to Hakodate would cost a fortune. Besides
that, I wanted to really enjoy Sapporo one last time. There were coffee shops
that I still wanted to visit, I hadn’t been to Kinokuniya ad not to mention there
were souvenirs to buy. I was also very exhausted: did a lot of walking in Otaru
on Saturday, ran the marathon in under very hot weather on Sunday then cycling
in hilly Biei on Monday. So I just purchased the one-day subway pass for
Tuesday and explored the city a little bit more.
It
was the best decision for that time. Tuesday was superhot and humid, and later
I found out from the Nakamura family (new friends made in Sapporo) that it was
due to an impending typhoon. There was a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to
return to Sapporo if I made that trip to Hakodate! What a relief to be staying
put.
Anyway.
Here
is the actual, simplified itinerary for this year’s Japan trip:
FRI
|
|
26-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Arrive at CTS
|
afternoon
|
Sapporo - Akarenga, Odori Park, Tanukijoji, coffee crawling,
race kit collection
|
evening
|
Sapporo - Sushi dinner near Waya
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
SAT
|
|
27-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Otaru
|
afternoon
|
Otaru
|
evening
|
Sapporo - Hokkaido University, ramen dinner in Susukino
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
SUN
|
|
28-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Hokkaido Marathon
|
afternoon
|
Hokkaido Marathon
|
evening
|
Sapporo - Nagomi Visit with Nakamura Family
|
night
|
Sapporo
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
MON
|
|
29-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Biei - 1/2 Guided Cycling Tour
|
afternoon
|
Furano - Farm Tomita
|
evening
|
Traveling back to Sapporo (3 hours)
|
night
|
Sapporo - search for dinner in Susukino
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
TUE
|
|
30-Aug
|
|
morning
|
Sapporo - Nijo Fish Market, Sapporo TV Tower, Sapporo
Underground flea market, Maruyama
Park
|
afternoon
|
Sapporo - Kinokuniya, Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens,
souvenir shopping
|
evening
|
Sapporo - last minute coffee crawling
|
night
|
Sapporo - hanging out with other guests at Waya
|
sleep
|
Sapporo
|
WED
|
|
31-Aug
|
|
morning
|
CTS – KUL
|
afternoon
|
|
evening
|
Arrive at KUL
|
night
|
|
sleep
|
Cost-wise,
I stayed mostly within budget. With JPY appreciating against MYR (I used MYR
3.70 = JPY 100 for planning but it was ~MYR 3.90 = JPY 100 by the time of the
trip), it wasn’t too bad J
Transportation
|
Price/unit JPY
|
MYR
|
JPY
|
|
TOTAL
|
TOTAL
|
|||
Friday: CTS - Waya
|
1-way
|
1270
|
50
|
1,270
|
Friday: Sapporo
|
Subway
|
200
|
16
|
400
|
Saturday: Otaru
|
Otaru Welcome Pass
|
1700
|
66
|
1,700
|
Sunday: Sapporo
|
Donichika Subway Pass
|
620
|
24
|
620
|
Monday: Sapporo - Biei - Nakafurano - Sapporo
|
Return
|
5040
|
393
|
10,080
|
Tuesday: Sapporo
|
Subway 1-Day Pass
|
830
|
32
|
830
|
Wednesday: Waya - CTS
|
1-way
|
1270
|
50
|
1,270
|
TOTAL
|
581
|
14,900
|
||
It
was too short of a trip (I prefer 8N 7N every time I went somewhere), but the
most interesting time I had spent in Japan. There is something distinctively
about Hokkaido, and it’s not just the climate!
A
few friends are asking if I’m going to back there, and I told them it’s an open
option. I do kind of want to run the Saroma-ko Ultra Marathon, you know…
***
So there you are – a sample of
how I work on itineraries on my Japan (and beyond) trips. It wasn’t perfect,
but it worked for me. I got to do what I went there to do, but allowed enough freedom
to discover new, unexpected things along the way.
And as I always said when people
ask “best tak cuti?”: “Best – rasa macam tak nak balik!”
That means – it’s time to plan
the next Japan’s trip!
